U.S. Panel Warns of IoT and 5G Security Vulnerabilities in Chinese Tech

In its annual report released yesterday, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission advised against companies and government relying on global supply chains with connections to China, the largest producer of IT equipment in the world. The panel expressed its concern that security breaches in IoT and 5G devices could pose a threat to U.S. infrastructure.

"The scale of Chinese state support for the IoT, the close supply chain integration between the United States and China, and China’s role as an economic and military competitor to the United States creates enormous economic, security, supply chain, and data privacy risks for the United States," the report states. "The lax security protections and universal connectivity of IoT devices creates numerous points of vulnerability that hackers or malicious state actors can exploit to hold U.S. critical infrastructure, businesses, and individuals at risk."

The commission also urged Congress to take steps to "ensure the rapid and secure deployment of a 5G network, with a particular focus on the threat posed by equipment and services designed or manufactured in China."

The full report can be found at the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission's website. It is not a reflection of current U.S. policy — the bipartisan commission's purpose is to make recommendations to Congress and the administration.

The United States and China are the world's two largest economies, and both have recently placed tariffs on imported goods from the other. President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping are expected to discuss tensions between the two countries when they attend the G-20 in Buenos Aires, Argentina later this month, Bloomberg reports.

Previously, the U.S. banned its government agencies from acquiring technology made by Chinese tech giants Huawei and ZTE, according to WRAL TechWire. The companies deny that the Chinese government is using their products to spy on the U.S.

The U.S. Defense Department also stopped purchasing commercial, off-the-shelf drones in June, pending an assessment of the drones' cybersecurity risk.